Indian Cricket team sponsor Oppo can now steal Virat Kohli from rival Gionee

Gionee's brand ambassador Virat Kohli will now appear in some Oppo advertisements as a member and captain of the Indian teamGaurav Laghate | ET Bureau | March 09, 2017, 08:10 IST

(Getty Images)One brand that may not be pleased with Chinese handset maker Oppo Mobiles winning the Indian cricket team sponsorship rights for the next five years is its rival Gionee.

That is because Gionee's brand ambassador Virat Kohli will now appear in some Oppo advertisements as a member and captain of the Indian team.

Brand experts say similar things have happened earlier.

Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was endorsing sportswear brand Reebok when he had to appear in Nike's ads because the latter was team India's kit sponsors.

Brand strategist Harish Bijoor said such cases would become more common “in an environment where brand ambassadors are in a short supply while there is a big clutter of brands.” “Brands will need to have a tolerance for this,” he added.

The first of this kind brand war had played out in 1992 in front of a TV audience of over 3 billion, when legendary basketball player Michael Jordan – who has a long association with Nike – had to wear Reebok-made official United States Olympic Committee awards-ceremony uniform.